supakimchee

Yeah, we all passed. Just be patient. Nothing is going to make it go faster.

I was accepted into the BSN bridge with CSULA, but I chose not to go. If your goal is to work for a County (DHS) hospital, I would wait to get your BSN. CSULA is expensive to complete the bridge option and it is based mostly on grades you received in semesters 1 and 2. DHS hospitals don't require BSNs and only offer a 2% bonus for completing them. Some programs cost anywhere from 20-30k, so it's really not worth it. If you're planning to work at a private facility, that's a whole another story, as some hospitals require RNs to carry a BSN or the pay increases might be significant enough to warrant going back to school to obtain it. Just be aware that the bridge program with CSULA for County is during the summers meaning you will have zero time off in between terms. If you already have children, that might be a tough pill to swallow. Also the tuition deferment is not 1 year after graduation. It's around 6 or 7 months.

Paramedics do not act independently without orders, neither do nurses. If you are carrying out ANY ALS interventions in the field it is under the direction of a licensed physician/MICN or it is part of your Standing Field Treatment Protocols which are orders created by your Medical Director of your EMS agency. As for the surgical/needle crics - this is NOT allowed per LA County EMS protocols, so that's just a jurisdictional thing. I will agree with you that medics and nurses are complementary. There are things medics can do WITH orders that nurses cannot do and vice versa. I really don't see a point in bickering amongst ourselves when we're all part of the same team.

Skip the LVN, get your RN if at all possible.

Since I haven't worked in an ICU, I'll just fill you in on some pros and cons of working in the ED (level 1 Trauma, level 2 Ped)! Remember guys, this is my list. Some of my pros might be cons for others and vice versa. Pros: -Fast-paced -Less documentation -You will become an IV padawan (vascular access nurses are the Jedis) -You become a more well-rounded nurse (you can take care of any patient - not like you got a choice!) -Job satisfaction -Exhausting - You sleep like a baby -Exciting - TFAs, TTAs, TCs -Assessment skills become lightning quick -Patients that are thankful for you -Scumbag patients that warm up to you because you're actually nice (actually my favorite patients as you build better rapport) -If you empty your pockets when you get home after a shift, you can probably open your own hospital. Cons: -Fast-paced - Make sure you take your breaks -Resident physicians that think orders should mimic a leaky faucet -Homeless drunks who want to take a bed all night -Not-homeless drunks who want to take a bed all night (worse than the homeless) -Interchange drunks with IV drug users above -Patients who claim to be allergic to every pain med except dilaudid -Exhausting - you can literally sleep for 2 days after 4 straight shifts -The month of July -You're literally overflow for every damn area of the hospital -Scumbag patients that treat you like crap no matter how nice you are. -Patients that show up to the ED because they have "too many boogers" (I'm dead serious) -If you didn't test positive on a PPD you probably will working in the ED The Worst Part of ED: Watching family react to a family member's unexpected/tragic death. Oh, also...you're going to get a lot of psych patients. I would also list management as a con, but I cleverly work the night shift so I should diplomatically disclose that management is not a con.

When it comes to ABCs, always err on the side of caution. No one is going to get their license revoked by acting in good faith for the patient. But they will yank it if you start practicing medicine and dismiss it as a panic attack :) I remember during my EMS years, I had a nurse ask us why we had the pt. on a NRB when he was sating @ 98% on RA. Because he was breathing 38 times a minute? I'd be a fool not to!

Yeah, it's called saliva kid. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, is he/she?

Well, that's why I work at a County hospital. We don't make money, we bleed it. We're still understaffed as hell though, HA!

I'm confused. Can you clarify how your relationship is with your ex-husband? I would personally never put myself on the line to get someone an interview unless I was willing to completely vouch for the other person, meaning that I'm comfortable and know the person well enough (and consider them worthy of sticking my neck out for). If you and your ex-husband are not on great terms, you need to run...run screaming from this situation.

Well, I'm not going to quote the guy that gave us the Great Wall of Confabulation, because I'm pretty sure you all know who I'm talking about (plus I got really tired of scrolling). But this is squarely directed at him: Sir, there's a reason you have 10 posts and zero likes. Please stop trying.

Hey guys, just send me a private message if you have any more specific questions. I'd rather not post publicly about where I work :)

I think we'd just end up with adults getting poked by Narcan pens that are trying to sleep. Honestly, how would a child have the assessment skills to know whether their parents are OD'ing or asleep? I know it should be a simple task for adults to grasp, but that is a crap-ton of responsibility we'd be expecting from just mere children. Whatever happened to the times when kids could be kids? SO sad nowadays.

Sorry to say but it varies quite a bit. I've had friends that took over 2 months to get results and I got mine in 1 week. It's just the way the BRN works I'm afraid Just keep checking your BRN account for your license number!!

I dunno, anyone over 300lbs? *Rimshot*

You should come to our hospital. Some of our CNAs don't actually do anything. They can't even do 1:1 sitting without somehow walking out of the room and magically socializing with the unit secretary. I worked in LTC and those CNAs bust their butts compared to acute care CNAs. Most of the time in our hospital, they usually disappear or argue with one another about who needs to do work. They actually started giving our CNAs phones because of the disappearing Houdini acts.